A petroleum tanker laden with 175,000 barrels of North Dakota crude was being offloaded in Europe on Wednesday, the first such overseas shipment of the state’s oil since Congress lifted a 40-year ban on crude exports in December.
North Dakota’s congressional delegation and industry officials hailed Hess Corp.’s shipment as a milestone that could open more markets in faraway refineries where premium prices are typically fetched based on foreign prices.
“It’s a big deal,” said Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, a trade group that represents about 500 companies working in the oil patch in the western part of the state. “Once you get a barrel to sea, it will fetch a better price.”
The ban on crude exports was put in place in response to the energy crisis of the 1970s. It’s not immediately clear what impact exporting North Dakota oil will have on prices or production, which is currently pegged at about 1.1 million barrels daily.
And environmental groups have said they worry that increased supply by U.S. energy companies will lead to more pollution and higher global emissions. [Glad to see these environmental nuts get their two cents in edgewise -- gives me an excuse to buy another silver dollar.]
Hess spokesman John Roper said the crude originated from Tioga, North Dakota in early April. It was shipped by rail to St. James, Louisiana. There, it was loaded on a tanker with ExxonMobile Corp.’s offshore oil from the Gulf of Mexico.
The tanker arrived early this week in Rotterdam, Netherlands, where ExxonMobile (sic) has a refinery, Roper said. Workers were unloading the shipment Wednesday.Don't you just love the way they spell "ExxonMobile"? LOL.
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The Sports Page
Wow, what a weekend!
Soccer: granddaughter #2 had three soccer games Saturday and Sunday. She was on the winning team in two lopsided games, and a hard-fought loss in the third game. In that third game, her team's goalie was taken out: she sustained a broken hand due to being kicked by an opposing player. Mind you, these are fourth graders. They take their sports seriously here in Texas.
Our granddaughter -- not a goalie -- agreed to be the goalie in that game. Despite some great saves, it was not to be. Be that as it may, she will be "signing" for a "Select" team this summer.
Water polo: granddaughter #1 -- age 12, plays on the 12-and-under mixed (boys/girls)water polo team and the 14-and-under (girls) water polo team for Southlake, Texas. This past weekend, state championships for these age groups were held outside of Houston. The 12-and-under team took 5th of eight teams. A nice showing. But then, incredibly, her team took 1st place in the 14-and-under girls. Pretty spectacular.
Soccer: granddaughter #3 -- she will be two years old this summer -- had soccer practice Sunday, but no games, yet. Except for one "meltdown" she did well; a kiss and she was as good as new, ready to practice.
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The Grilling Page
A Note for the Granddaughters
Ten, maybe fifteen, years ago, I had no clue how to grill. Then I got a Weber grill. And Weber's Big Book of Grilling.
I assume everyone who grills "knows" how to do it: either family recipes or learned on their own, with or without books or mentors.
I'm just reminiscing. There must be a gazillion books on grilling out there; I see them all at Barnes and Noble. I assume everyone has their favorite or favorites (plural).
I assume there are books that are as good as WBBofG but I doubt there are any better.
I haven't looked at "the book" in a long time, but this is what it taught me:
- how to carve a turkey
- beer can chicken
- rubs and marinades
- how to cook lamb
- direct and indirect grilling
- how to grill tuna, salmon, steak
Tonight, in between dropping off granddaughter #3 at home and picking up granddaughter #1 for water polo, I had 2.5 hours free. I called wife #1 and asked her if she was up for artichoke and salmon. At home, if the artichoke is "right" and the salmon is "right" it's her favorite meal. Outside the home, sushi. One can't really ask which we like better; it would be comparing apples to oranges. The artichoke and salmon we do at home, better than we could ever get in a restaurant (it takes an hour to boil the artichokes); we can't match sushi at home with what they can do in a good sushi restaurant.
Tonight, in addition, to salmon, I brought home some sushi-grade tuna for grilling. At the last minute, my wife asked me if had marinaded it. I had completely forgotten but thanks to years with WBBoG I put together the marinade in minutes. One only needs a few minutes to marinade tuna.
Perfect meal.
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